A-League Collective Bargaining Agreement extended

Football Federation Australia and Professional Footballers Australia announce agreement to extend the current A-League Collective Bargaining Agreement for another two years.

Football Federation Australia (FFA) and Professional Footballers Australia (PFA) today announced their agreement to extend the current A-League Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) for another two years.

Head of Hyundai A-League Damien de Bohun, PFA Special Counsel Brendan Schwab and PFA President Simon Colosimo announced that the CBA will now take the Hyundai A-League to the end of the 2014/15 season.

The amended CBA incorporates a number of important changes to enhance the economic viability of the Clubs, ensure the security of player contracts, invest in player wellbeing and development programs and further place relations between FFA, the PFA, players and Clubs on a strategic footing.

The agreement will see the salary cap rise to $2.5 million for the 2013/14 season and to $2.55 million for the 2014/15 season.

FFA sees the increase, which will be matched by FFA club distributions over the two year term, as another step in ensuring the continued sustainable growth of the Hyundai A-League.

Head of A-League Damien de Bohun praised the collaborative process in developing the new CBA and professionalism of the player representatives in supporting the best interests of the entire Hyundai A-League competition.

“First and foremost I wish to congratulate all involved on reaching an outcome that will continue to grow the game in this country,” said de Bohun.

“From the Clubs to the players who actively took part in these discussions, our vision is to ensure the Hyundai A-League is a sustainable competition that continues to attract a high calibre of player and is entertaining to fans new and old.

“We have made great strides over the past two seasons in growing the game but we must remain vigilant to ensure that we continue our momentum by ensuring a sustainable financial future for the game.

“FFA and all 10 Clubs are also committed to an ongoing investment in player wellbeing and development programs in the interest of both current and future generations of players.”

The two year variation and extension of the existing CBA will run until 30 June 2015, bringing the agreement into effect for a total of seven seasons.

New inclusions to the CBA also include Player Wellbeing and Development Programs now under the administration of the PFA through a program developed in consultation with FFA (via a Joint Career Committee), which will continue to assist players in the successful transition to life following their playing careers.

The administration of the Hyundai A-League has also renewed its commitment to player contract security with all clubs committing to guaranteeing that FFA Club Distribution payments will only be used to pay players- salaries.

PFA President Simon Colosimo said the players were very actively involved in the negotiations, with 13 current players attending the negotiations in recent months and 50 delegates attending a PFA Special General meeting on 12 June to approve the extension.

“The players- vision for the negotiations was to achieve economic security for the three key stakeholders that make the Hyundai A-League possible for the fans: FFA, the Clubs and the players. This agreement goes a long way towards achieving that goal,” said Colosimo.

“Employment as a professional footballer is often short-term and precarious. FFA-s $2 million plus investment in career programs to be run by the PFA will help ensure that every player who plays in the Hyundai A-League leaves the game as a better person and ready to transition into life after football. FFA-s investment will also be supplemented by the Socceroos CBA and FIFPro, the world players- union, enabling the PFA to invest over $4 million over the next two years in player wellbeing, development and representation.”

PFA Special Counsel Brendan Schwab said the negotiations were the most extensive, open and transparent that the PFA had been involved with.

“We are satisfied that Australia-s professional footballers presently receive a much higher share of revenue than their counterparts in other Australian sports. Given the losses of the Clubs, the sensible thing for the game to do now is to invest in the Clubs and player career programs. The PFA is very confident that, by working with FFA and the Clubs, the A-League will be in an even stronger position in two years time as we work to grow the game.

“I would like to acknowledge the work of Damien, FFA Chief Operating Officer John Kelly, FFA Legal Counsel Sam Chadwick, Club representatives Greg Griffin and John McKay and especially the players who so actively participated in the negotiations.”